Conveyor belts are widely used today in a variety of industrial applications. For example, conveyor belts are used for material handling and processing applications, as well as a variety of food processing systems.
Since conveyor belt use is widespread, an economical and efficient way of manufacturing conveyor belts is necessary to meet this growing demand. One type of belt provided to increase cost-effectiveness and installation efficiencies are modular belts. Modular conveyor belts are made from many individual links, or belt segments, that are connected together to form a conveyor belt having a desired total length. In order to assemble a modular conveyor belt, the modular links are carefully aligned in relation to one another so that a connecting rod can be inserted into rod receiving apertures that extend through the modular links. Typically, each modular link has a rod receiving aperture through which a connecting rod may be inserted. However, before the connecting rod can be inserted, the rod receiving aperture in a first modular link needs to be aligned with the rod receiving aperture in a second modular link so that the connecting rod may be inserted through both links. This process is repeated for each link until all the modular links are held in place in relation to one another to form a complete conveyor belt.
In some circumstances, aligning two adjacent modular links in order to insert the connecting rod through the rod receiving apertures in the links may be an arduous and time-consuming process. In some cases, it may be time intensive to carefully position two adjacent links so that the rod may be properly inserted. One reason this may be difficult is that the belt components may be flexible due to an elongated length. Another factor that may contribute to the flexibility of the belt components is the material that the belt components are formed of. Plastic belt links can sometimes be more flexible than metal links. Similarly, the connecting rod may also be flexible, particularly when a plastic rod is used and/or when the belt is particularly wide, necessitating the use of a relatively long rod.
The present disclosure is directed to improvements in alignment and assembly of modular conveyor belt components.